In a process of manufacturing a semiconductor apparatus, characteristics of semiconductor devices are measured using a tester when each of the semiconductor devices is formed in a rectangular region enclosed by dicing lines of a semiconductor substrate, and the process of manufacture is managed on the basis of the measurement result.
In a vertical semiconductor device in which the electric current flows in a thickness direction of a semiconductor substrate, probes of a tester are brought into contact with a front surface electrode and a back surface electrode of the semiconductor device to measure the characteristic of the semiconductor device. For this reason, the semiconductor substrate is directly sucked by a conductive stage, and the probe is electrically connected to the conductive stage, so that a contact between the probe and the back surface electrode is obtained.
However, as the output power of the semiconductor device increases, the semiconductor device is grinded and made thin in order to improve heat radiation, and the back surface electrode is formed in the final step. As a result, there is a problem in that a large warpage occurs in the semiconductor substrate, which makes it difficult to cause the semiconductor substrate to be directly sucked by the stage. This is because it is highly possible that the semiconductor substrate is damaged during the attaching/detaching operation.
In order to prevent breakage of the thin semiconductor substrate, the semiconductor substrate may be reinforced by attaching the semiconductor substrate to an adhesive sheet. However, in this case, there is a problem that the contact with the back surface electrode cannot be obtained.
In some cases, a penetration electrode is provided in a semiconductor device region to perform characteristic test, so that the back surface electrode is electrically connected to the front surface side. However, there is a problem in that the penetration electrode becomes thick to ensure the capacity of the electric current, and moreover, the penetration electrode ultimately becomes unnecessary. Therefore, the chip size is increased.